Same as always, my daughter enjoyed a freshly baked bread for breakfast.

We left the hotel room around 9:30 a.m. to head to the leather atelier to make it to the appointment at 10 a.m. It was still very hot and humid. When we arrived there, we were soaked wet with sweat.

We made a small pouch with leather. It was a fun creation by arranging the colored leather and decollations per our preference.  

After that, we went to the Donkihote and purchased a large suitcase.

We had a Monja-yaki and Yakisoba at the Teppan yaki restaurant. We enjoyed the food so much. It was our very first time to try Monja-yaki.

After we went back to the hotel room and put the suitcase to the room, we went to the Atoa. It was a recently built aquarium that I never been to. We had a great fun to walk around and saw their animals and exhibitions.

For dinner my daughter purchased a Domino pizza and I purchased a bento at the department.

At night, we went to the massage salon. A Japanese male massage therapist gave me a massage. This massage therapist, Ken-san, was really good. After his massage, the pains and swellings in my calves were completely gone.   

We left our hotel room around 10 a.m. and headed to my late parents’ house. When I saw the ocean view, I finally felt I was back home. The train stopped at Suma station for about 20 minutes due to the accident happened somewhere in Amagasaki area. I was not in a hurry so that I could enjoy watching the Suma beach, eating some rice snack with my daughter.

We arrived at my parents’ house after 11 a.m. Once we entered, I actually felt my parents’ existence in the house, welcoming us to their house.  

The first thing we did was to enter the alter room and sat down the butsudan. I saw my parents’ pictures next to the butsudan. I offered Japanese mantra and Hannya Shingyo and started talking to them. I talked to them out loud. I was 100% sure that they were with me and listening to me and talking to me. I could communicate with them normally as if they were still alive in the physical form.

My main purpose was to take my bank items including bank note book, ATM card, and bank stamps. I went to my mom’s small area where she kept her sawing machines and cashes. I found her wallets, but everything was empty as all the cash was already taken. My bank items were not there. Then we went to my dad’s office on upstairs. I could not find my bank items anywhere. I talked to my mom and dad in spirit to guide me. When I almost gave up, my daughter all of a sudden asked me if she could open the first drawer of my dad’s desk. I told her to go ahead to open. There, she found my bank ATM cash card right away. It was amazing that she could find it, even though it was her very first time to enter my dad’s office. Then, I naturally guided to one paper folder, where I could find my bank notebook. The last item I needed was my bank stamp. We entered the other room, and I naturally guided to my dad’s shelf. I was delighted to find my own box and found my bank stamp there. With the support from my late parents and my daughter, I could find all the bank items that I needed.

There was one more surprise for me. My brother put one bank note on the kitchen table. My name was written on the bank note. When I opened it, I saw the familiar handwriting of my mom’s. My mom kept some money for me and it was her last surprise gift to me. I was very sure that she was happy for me that I could receive it.

I was told via my attorney that my brother was fine that I would take anything I wanted from our parents’ house. Even my attorney suggested it would be the only last opportunity to enter their house and take everything what I needed. My daughter and I searched around the items that my parents left behind. My mom’s kimonos were untouched. My mom’s jewelries were untouched. I know my mom wanted me to take some, but on my second thought, I made my mind not to take anything. I just thought it was not right thing for me to take anything from their house.

We left their house without anything that was belong to my parents. I just took my own bank items only.

We stayed my parents’ house for about 2 hours. Deep inside, I was hoping my brother would stop by and say hi to us. I was actually planning to bring a gift to my brother. I purchased a pure sake that was made with chemical free rice. I wanted to leave the gift with a small note, thanking him to let me enter to our parents’ house. When I mentioned about my plan to my attorney, he had a sad look on his face. He believes my brother would not stop by because he doesn’t want to see me. Also, he would not appreciate my gift. So, I didn’t bring the gift to my brother. I am feeling sad that my brother was stubbornly cringing on to my parents’ money.

After we left my parents’ house, we went to the BBQ restaurant that my parents would take us many times in our childhood days. I am sure my parents joined us and enjoyed the food with us in spirit.

Then we went to the Maiko beach and walked on the beach area. I needed to earth myself, so I soak my bare foot in the sea. Thanks to Maiko beach and ocean, I could release my sadness of this current situation with my brother.

In the evening, we went to Meriken park and watched the firework show for 15 minutes.

On the way back to the hotel room, we found one massage salon. Since there was only one opening, I let my daughter to have a 30-minute massage.

When we came back to the hotel, I talked with one of the front desk clerks about our departure day. When I mentioned our flight departure is 6:30 p.m., she was kind enough to extend our check out time until 1 p.m. which was 2 hours longer than their normal checkout time. I appreciate her kindness and thoughtfulness.  

It was our last day in Tokyo area. We went for a walk in the neighborhood area. My daughter enjoyed eating a freshly baked bread as the breakfast.

I packed all the souvenir items that I purchased online to two cardboard boxes. I left one day clothes for us to a bigger suitcase, and packed the other clothes into another suitcase. I sent out the two cardboard boxes to the airport and one suitcase to the hotel in Kobe.  

Around 11 a.m., we checked out the hotel, and headed to the Shinkansen station.  

At the shinkansen station, I run into a nice elderly couple. They were also heading to Kobe and we chatted for a while.

Once we arrived at Kobe and checked in the hotel, the first place we went was the tourist information center. We found one brochure showing the fireworks. It says they will have a firework show starting from today Monday through Friday every night for 15 minutes each. The venue park was just one station away from our hotel, so we decided to go there. It says the autumn fair cerebration. We are lucky enough to watch the firework show every night during our stay.

For the dinner, we went to the curry restaurant as my daughter’s request. After enjoyed the curry, we walked through the shopping area to the firework venue.   

I felt comfortable to be back to my hometown.

It was the second day of the Japanese homeopathy Congress.

In the afternoon around 2 p.m., I was selected as a representative graduate of the inner child therapist course. I was called at the stage. I received the certificate from Torako sensei directly. I felf honored to be the graduate representative. I was also allowed to make a brief speech in front of the audience. I mentioned about my very last inner child healing. It was about the party of the previous night. On the way back to the hotel room, I experienced a variety of emotions, such as anger, disappointment, and sadness. I listened to my inner child and healed the emotions one by one.

Even though it was only 1 minute speech, I was honored to be able to speak up in front of many people. I appreciate the school people, especially the executive chairman, who selected me as the graduate representative. Thank you to the people who involved in this selection.

It was the first day of the Japanese homeopathy Congress. In the morning, we met my friend at the hotel. We departed the hotel room together to the homeopathy school. Even though we met in person for the first time, three of us felt comfortable to have each other as a company.

It was my first time to enter the homeopathy school office and their lecture room. My other friend told me that their energy is shining clear because all the workers say Japanese mantra every morning to cleanse the entire building. Indeed, the energy of the entire building was pure clean welcoming and hugging us with gentle love energy.

During the congress, the school offered us some food and drinks as omotenashi, their warm appreciation free gift, that kept us going for the long-hour congress.

After the congress, we stayed at the homeopathy school restaurant, and attended the party. It was a hectic party that I could not enjoy it at all. Because it was super clouded by so many people, I felt like I was forced to eat in the clouded train.

After I came back to the hotel room, I invited my friend to our room so that we could enjoy some sake together.    

Today was a busy day. We went to Ginza area.

The first appointment was to have lunch with my friend. She instructed me the detailed information on how we could get to Ginza by transferring the train once. It was our very first time to meet in person. She was very friendly and cute so that we felt at home staying with her. She took us to a restaurant where they served Doria. It was delicious and we all enjoyed the meal.

The second appointment was to meet with my palmistry teacher. My friend is also a student of his, and she offered me to take us to his office and stay with us during the appointment. The palmistry teacher gave me and my daughter a brief reading session on palmistry, then he offered both of us a picture taking session. He put a makeup on our face and took many pictures of us. We had a great  fun together.

The third appointment was to meet my attorney and his assistant. Here too, my friend offered me to take us to his office. It was a very hot day with high humidity day. When we arrived at his office, I was soggy wet on all over my body. I had a great impression on the attorney and his assistant. They were fun to talk with. I felt sincere attitude from them by their explanation and the way of their talk. By the time we finished our meeting, it was already close to 6 p.m.

Even though it was a super busy day, we enjoyed every single meeting and spending time with them.

We slept comfortably. I was a bit surprised that we naturally woke up around 6 a.m. without feeling tired or sleepy. We didn’t get suffered from a jet lag.

In the morning, we took a walk again to get to know the area. There were many people who were busy walking to their office. We enjoyed walking freely against the commuting flow.

My daughter is a big fan of a Japanese bakery. We purchased a freshly baked bread for our breakfast.

Our second stop was the homeopathy school. Their first floor was the organic restaurant and we had the lunch there. Their food was full of fresh energy. I was touched by all their ingredient.

After the lunch, I run into the secretary general of the homeopathy school. I had talked with him via zoom at the initial interview when I applied to the professional homeopath course. I also talked to him a couple of times via zoom and emails, but it was our very first time to meet in person. We chatted for a while. I really liked his gentle and polite energy.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by at the other homeopathy store. When I entered the store, the store worker smiled at me and brought a small basket filled with some homeopathy remedies and support tinctures. They were the one that I ordered from America. I was surprised because I didn’t tell her my name. She said she saw my presentation before and that was why she recognized me by my face. I felt comfortable talking with her and thanked her for her kind support.

Our third stop was a Hair salon. I made an appointment online in advance. It was a 2.5 hour appointment including a shampoo, a hair-cut, a hair dye, and a short massage, a deep-treatment conditioner, a hair blow, and hair make. I dyed my hair into pinkish brown, and my daughter dyed hers to red. She originally wanted to dye her hair to blue, but it didn’t happen. The hair stylist said it would take another extra one hour because she had to breach her hair color. So, my daughter decided the color red. We both liked the results. 

Our fourth stop was a skin clinic. I made an appointment in advance for my daughter to have an ear piercing. It only cost 5,000 yen for the doctor to pierce the both ears. This price included the first pierce with the pure gold.

Then, our fifth and last stop was a yakitori-ya. I wanted to take my daughter to the Japanese BBQ chicken restaurant, so my dream came true. Even though she is still under age and cannot enjoy alcohol drink, she enjoyed the atmosphere of yakitori-ya/izakaya where people enjoy alcoholic beverage.

We had a fun day. Since we walked a lot, we slept right away when we got on the bed. Both of us didn’t have a jet lag so far.

We arrived at Narita about 6 p.m., which was 3.5 hours later than the scheduled time. I felt nervons about setting up the international eSim at the airport. I purchased yubigi eSim for this trip and needed to switch from the American cell phone company to the purchased eSim. I had a tough time figuring out. When I asked my daughter for help, she could figure it out within seconds. I was impressed how quickly and easily she found out.

From Narita airport to the hotel that I booked, it took almost 2 hours. By the time when we finally arrived at the hotel, it was almost 8 p.m., and we were totally exhausted.

The hotel was the building of 9^th floor. The front desk worker was a very nice and polite man. He gave us the top and corner room, which was probably their best room.

I purchased lots of items from two of the online stores while I was still in America. When we entered the room, the hotel worker already put our items in the room, which was very nice of them.

The great thing of their hotel room was equipped with a laundry and dryer, and a mini kitchen.

After we put our bags and took a bath, we went for a walk in the neighborhood area. We could have entered any restaurant or izakaya for dinner, but my daughter wanted to eat something simple and easy to digest like udon. We walked around but could not find any restaurant who serves udon in the late at night. Luckily, the grocery store was open. I purchased a Udon set for my daughter and a sushi pack for myself. Our first dinner in Japan was Udon and sushi.

My family and I left the house at 3:30 a.m. to catch our first airplane leaving Denver CO at 6 a.m.

I thought the airport counter would open at 5 a.m. However, when we arrived there, the counter was already open even though it was before 5 a.m. The airport counter worker was nice but he gently suggested me to come to the airport at least 2 hours on my next trip. I guess we will have to leave our house at 2:30 a.m. if we ever go to Japan next time.

Our first airplane to Denver went through normally and we arrived 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. But sadly, our next flight, which is the international flight from Denver to Narita Japan was delayed by 3 hours than the scheduled time.

This time it was my first time to take the economy plus seat. Thanks to the campaign from the tourist company, they paid the $500 for the upgrade to economy plus seat. The seat has several inches extra in front of the seats. My daughter and I took the seat number A and C on purpose, hoping that nobody would set between us. Sadly though, the between seat of B was taken by somebody. It was a Vietnamese young woman in her 20s, who was very skinny and small. She and I had a small conversation. I was glad to know she was nice and polite. Her existence never bothered us during the flight.

As always, the flight from America to Japan is the tough one. It takes 2 hours longer than the return flight that is from Japan to America. Our flight took 12 hours and 40 minutes. I could not sleep well during the flight and ended up watching 4 movies.

The movies that I watched were Lady Kaga (2023), Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2023), Past Lives (2023), and Smoke Signals (1998).

I enjoyed the 4 movies. As for the last movie, Smoke Signals, even though I watched it many times, probably more than 10 times, this time it deeply touched my soul in a different way than the previous times. It is a story about a son and his dad who was alcoholic, violent, and abandoned the family. At the ending of the movie, the main character asks the audience if we can fully forgive our father or not. Even though my dad was not exactly same as the dad of this movie, the situation was similar that my dad passed away and I had the resentment to my late dad in many ways. This movie put me to lots of emotions that I never faced. I ended up shedding lots of tears during watching this movie. All in all, I appreciate for this opportunity to face and my unresolved emotions toward my late dad and successfully released them along with the tears.

It was another busy day getting ready for the trip. I took care of Nukaduke and talked to them about our trip for 2 weeks.

I cleaned the entire house and took care of the plants in our back yard garden and talked to them too. I am almost ready to go to Japan.